


It Used To Be So Good

by Defcon



Series: S.O.S. [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Cross-stitch, Getting Together, M/M, Reluctant hero Leonard Snart, Spoilers for Legends 1x14, coldflash - Freeform, pretty fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 20:19:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7728424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Defcon/pseuds/Defcon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team Flash helps the Legends return from Earth-2 after Rip and his crew successfully complete a mission there, and Barry is surprised to learn that tension is brewing among some of the time travelers thanks to the risky heroics of one Leonard Snart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Used To Be So Good

Barry was crouched like a runner on the starting block, staring intently at the portal that connected the S.T.A.R. Labs basements on Earth-1 and Earth-2. Cisco was standing just behind him, goggles on, uncharacteristically silent, and Caitlin was sitting tensely at the control panel monitoring activity coming from the rift. 

It was risky traveling the rift without speedster powers, so Barry had volunteered to carry Rip’s crew across the breach. That had worked to get them there, but major temporal anomalies on Earth-2 meant that Barry couldn’t risk going over to bring the Legends back until that Earth’s timeline was stabilized. As Rip had explained, Barry could enter the breach at a time when S.T.A.R. Labs on Earth-2 didn’t even exist, stranding him without an exit point.

Rip’s crew unanimously voted to trust that team Flash would figure out a way to get them back safely by the time their mission on Earth-2 was completed. Well, mostly unanimously.

_’As someone who just spent a not inconsiderable amount of time floating through the Temporal Zone after an impulsive rescue mission, can I put in a vote for developing a solid plan before jumping into the wormhole?’_

Barry shook his head and grinned a little, remembering how Len had acquiesced after Barry promised him he’d get them back safely (even if he’d made a show of rolling his eyes and sighing portentously when the others were around).

_’I better not regret this, kid.’_

_’You’ll be in safe hands.’_

_’Now you’re just being a tease.’_

Frantic beeping from the computer jolted Barry out of his thoughts as Caitlin manipulated the mouse-and-joystick set-up Cisco had jury-rigged for her targeting software. This same thing had happened two nights ago and been a false alarm -- just some flotsam in the rift -- but nevertheless Barry kept his gaze ahead and his posture ready.

“Cisco!” Caitlin called, “I’m picking up anomalous readings at 6 and 10 o’clock!”

Cisco didn’t say anything, but when Barry glanced over his shoulder the goggles were glowing slightly and Cisco had that slack look he got when vibing. Suddenly his friend’s head jerked between the two angles that corresponded to the clock-based directions Caitlin had called out, and he lurched forward to grip Barry’s shoulder.

“Nnngh!” Barry’s vision whited out then went hyper-pigmented as Cisco shared his vision of two figures hurtling through the breach. Barry darted forward, disappearing into the portal, and reemerging seconds later with Rip Hunter flung over one shoulder and an arm wrapped around White Canary’s waist. All three of them stumbled a bit as he came to a halt and set them on their feet. 

Before he could get the question out Canary spun him back toward the portal and shouted, “Mick’s next!” 

One by one Caitlin called out directions, Cisco vibed exact locations and passed them on to Barry, and Barry sped between the breach and the Labs depositing the other Legends. He tried not to let the feelings of vertigo associated with the rift between the Earths overwhelm him -- at least now he knew how people felt when he flashed them around.

The last person to grab (of course) was Len, and when Barry flashed safely out of the breach for the last time with the thief clinging to him piggyback Barry couldn’t help the giddy laughter that escaped him.

“I can’t believe we did it!” he called over to Caitlin and Cisco, who were already excitedly showing their tech to Dr. Stein. They both looked over and grinned at him, Cisco flashing him double thumbs-up.

“Rghh,” Snart grumbled into the back of Barry’s neck, where his head had slumped when he’d passed out from the rush. “Glad to know your gamble with all of our lives paid off. Lemme down.”

Barry snickered and hitched the other man higher up on his back, getting a better grip on Len’s thighs as he walked over to where Ray, Mick, White Canary (they technically still hadn’t been introduced in their civilian identities) and Jax were sipping dixie cups of water (set out by Caitlin prior to the retrieval).

“How you guys feeling?” Barry asked, offering up a sympathetic smile. Behind him, Len seemed resigned to the fact that Barry wasn’t ready to set him down and rested his chin on top of Barry’s cowled head. Barry tried to ignore the squirming in his gut (just the after-effects of the vertigo, surely) and hoped his mask covered enough of his face to hide his flush.

“Not too bad,” Ray looked a little green, but still had his characteristic good humor. “Oh!” he suddenly started patting at his jacket’s breast pocket, then slumped with relief, reached inside and drew out the Waverider, which he held up between his thumb and forefinger. “Still here!”

Barry leaned forward and breathed out a small, “Wow.” The technology from Ray’s A.T.O.M. suit had turned a giant, futuristic time machine into a Hot Wheel. 

“Phenomenal cosmic power -- itty bitty living space,” White Canary joked, and not even Mick’s grumbling about needing less talking and more Vicodin was enough to quell Ray’s excitement at her reference. 

“Flash,” Len patted him twice on the collarbone, “Take me to a couch.”

“Okay, this was fun when I was annoying you, but now I feel like you’re just milking it,” Barry let Len drop slowly and the other man stood on his own with no sign of stress or fatigue. Still, he dramatically put a hand over his heart like he was wounded.

“We just completed a harrowing mission traveling through time to find an unstable, reality-altering meta-human, all while adjusting to a brand new Earth. Don’t we deserve a bit of rest?” Len asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Mick grunted. “You more than any of us, huh?”

“ _Mick_.” Leonard’s tone was warning.

“ _Snart_ ,” Mick echoed mockingly, eyebrows raised.

The two men stared at each other for a moment, but eventually Mick threw his hands up and said, “All right, boss. I’ll let it drop.”

“Let what drop?” Cisco asked as he, Caitlin and Dr. Stein crossed the room to join them.

Rip Hunter swept back in from wherever he’d gone -- maybe to find a place to hide the Waverider once it was embiggened -- and said, “I presume we’re discussing the narrowly-avoided catastrophic failure of our entire mission?”

“Oh great,” Jax rolled his eyes and shared a commiserating look with Dr. Stein, “We’re having this argument again.”

“I believe what my younger half is trying to say, albeit sarcastically, is that what’s done is done. We should all be happy to have successfully aided Harrison Wells in correcting his Earth’s timeline,” Dr. Stein said.

“Was it a dumbass thing to do?” Sara added, “Sure. But it turned out just fine.”

“Sorry, _what_ turned out just fine?” Cisco asked.

Rip ignored his question (again), and pointed a finger at Len. “It was a foolish risk and an impulse of the sort you seem unable to stop yourself from indulging lately.”

“There was enough time to get in and out,” Len replied, and his bored affect seemed to reignite Heat Wave’s annoyance.

“‘Enough’?! Less than a minute! You that desperate to get yourself blown up again?”

“Nobody got blown up,” Len growled, posture turning aggressive toward the other two men, “Thanks to _me _.”__

“Regrettable though his death would have been, I told you multiple times that he is not an essential figure in Earth-2’s timeline!” Rip shouted.

“OKAY STOP!” Cisco pushed himself in the middle of the three men, took a deep breath, then turned to Jax and White Canary. “Will one of you let a guy in on what went down?”

The engineer’s outburst successfully let some of the tension out of the room, and Mick took the rest with him when he stalked out. In the ensuing silence Rip and Len at least had the decency to look a bit embarrassed.

“When we finally caught up with the Time Twister and figured out the origin point of all the changes he’d caused, we worked with Dr. Wells to build a charge that would collapse the rift,” Jax explained.

“It was quite similar to the ones you used to close the breaches on this Earth,” Dr. Stein added.

“Right,” Jax said. “Only this meta’s powers were tied to the first location he’d ever used them, which was a hospital, and Wells thought closing the rift would bring down the whole structure. We evacuated it, and set the timed charge, but Wells had this tracking device or something, I’m not sure, and he realized one of his team members had been trapped inside by debris as the building started to come down.”

Leonard’s arms were crossed tightly and he was shifting uncomfortably, clearly unhappy this story was being shared. Barry wondered if he would follow Mick.

“So Snart...” Cisco trailed off uncertainly.

“Went back in and saved him?” Caitlin finished.

Rip nodded once. “Yes. Even though Mr. Snart knew he wasn’t essential to that Earth’s timeline, and that his own death might cause disastrous ripple effects that would undo the weeks of hard work we’d put in there.”

Snart glared icily at Rip and said, “You think I care fuck-all about the timeline? I did it because it was the right thing to do.”

Barry’s shocked gasp caused every person in the room to start and look at him, and when Leonard caught sight of the open-mouthed grin overtaking Barry’s face he realized what he’d said, closed his eyes on a wince, and muttered, “Damn!” under his breath.

“I’llberightback!” Barry shouted as he flashed away. Less than a minute later he returned, holding something out in front of him that turned out to be a framed piece of embroidery that read, in flowing script:

**“I did it because it was the right thing to do.” ~ Leonard Snart.**

“Caitlin said I needed to practice doing something that requires dexterity and attention to detail while using my speed, and Cisco suggested cross-stitch!” Barry was still grinning like a fool, and Jax, Ray and Sara were doubling over in laughter. Even Rip had a small smile on his face.

Cisco frowned and leaned in to look at Barry’s craft. “Come on, man, it looks good from far away but you’re still dropping stitches.” 

“I’m leaving,” Snart said. He didn’t look mad, just resigned.

“Wait!” Jax called, “We still haven’t gotten to the best part!” 

Snart whirled back around and pinned Jax with as intense a stare as Captain Cold had ever given the Flash during one of their standoffs. “ _Jefferson_.”

Jax quailed, then mumbled, “You know what, I told Rory I would help work on his car when we had some down time, I’m just gonna go catch up to him!” and speed walked out of the room.

“Excellent idea,” Len called, “I’ll walk with you.” 

As he exited the room Len shot a last glance back at Barry (and what was that? Anxiety? Regret?). 

Dr. Stein clapped Cisco and Barry on their backs then gave Caitlin’s hands a quick squeeze.

“I should be getting back to Clarissa. I’m not sure exactly how long we’ve been gone, but I suspect it is my turn to cook dinner. Walk me out, Dr. Snow?”

Rip turned to Ray and said, “Shall we go return my ship to her proper state?”

“Sure! Thanks again for your help, guys,” Ray said. “You want to come watch?”

Cisco grabbed his coat, but Barry waved the offer off. Suddenly he was exhausted. 

When Rip was nearly to the exit the Time Master spun on his heel and walked back toward Barry with purpose. Barry was expecting some sort of official thank you or firm handshake or something, but Rip just grinned a little and said, “You know, there’s the perfect spot in my study where a bit of decoration might brighten things up.”

Barry laughed and held out the cross-stitch, “Like I’m gonna pass up the chance to guarantee he sees this every day.”

After Rip left it was just Barry and White Canary, so the two of them walked to the elevator and then to the Cortex while chatting about nothing in particular. Apparently she had ‘a contact’ who was in Central that she would be going to meet up with soon.

“Hey, before you leave?” Barry suddenly felt guilty, as though he shouldn’t be asking this, “Do you know what Jax was talking about? Before?”

Sara looked confused for a second, then said, “Oh. No, not really, sorry. I think it had to do with Dr. Wells’ team member, the one who Leonard rescued. I was never introduced to him, didn’t even meet him ‘till Leonard came rushing out after his rescue. I think maybe Ray and Jax knew him.”

“Huh. Like, from this Earth? He was a doppelgänger?” Barry asked.

“I think so,” she nodded, then perked up a little when her phone gave a chirp. “My ride is here. Speaking of doppelgängers, can you believe Leonard is the _mayor_ over there?”

Barry hugged her around the shoulders in goodbye (so sue him, he was a hugger), and replied, “Ohmygod, I know. It’s the best.”

“Yeah,” Sara said, walking backward toward the doorway with a mischievous look on her face, “way cooler than that other guy. Apparently before working with Dr. Wells he was just a boring old CSI.”

“Wha--"

“Bye!” She called back, and Barry thought she might have said something else, but he couldn’t make it out through the sudden pounding of his heartbeat in his ears.

**\---------------**

“--some boring old CSI.”

Len stopped in his tracks at the sound of Sara’s voice carrying down the hall.

She came into view a second later, her distinctive bouncing step bringing her toward him faster than he could fix his panicked expression.

“Hey Leonard!” She greeted, then, quietly, “You’ll thank me later.”

She patted him once on the chest, then passed by in the direction of the exit. 

“Shit,” Len sighed, letting his head hang for a second. Finally he squared his shoulders and walked toward the Cortex. He supposed there was no time like the present for horrifying a much younger man with your unrequited and embarrassing feelings.

Barry actually blanched when he turned the corner, like Len was the last person he wanted to see, which didn’t come as a surprise given what the kid had just learned from Sara. The Flash was smart, he probably already had Len all figured out.

“Hey! You’re back! How-- how’s Mick? Did you find him?” Barry had pushed his cowl off of his head, and his hair was sticking up in every direction. He looked like he was fighting the urge to speed the hell out of there.

“Ah,” Len rubbed at the back of his neck, considered his plan to just be straight with Barry, but decided to cut the kid a break, “Yeah, I found Mick. We didn’t talk or anything, I just needed to make sure he was all right.”

Len tried to ignore the hurt blossoming in his ribcage at how relieved Barry looked that Len hadn't asked what Barry and Sara had been discussing.

“That’s-- huh. Sweet of you?” Barry asked, then added hastily, “Uh, I mean, you’re a good friend.”

Len crossed his arms and propped one hip against the console where Ramon usually sat. “Mick and I will be in each other’s lives until one of us goes down in a hail of bullets or a gout of flames, but our partnership has always worked better after we’ve taken a break from each other. A couple of days apart will be good.”

He sighed and leaned back a bit, thinking as he stared up at the ceiling that he still couldn’t believe that he and Mick had been able to salvage things after the mutiny and Chronos and the Vanishing Point.

“When we were younger our fights were mostly about ego -- now they’re about how we’re emotionally stunted semi-adults who can’t admit when we’re worried about each other.”

Barry clapped a hand over his mouth, Len suspected to hide a grin. 

“Sorry, just didn’t expect that level of candidness,” Barry said. “So, um, why’d you come back?”

“Need to get some things out of my bunk on the Waverider, figured Rip would still be around.”

“He, Ray and Cisco went to blow the ship up. I mean-- not blow it up-- you know what I mean. Make it big again.” Barry looked panicked.

“Right,” Len nodded, “Then I guess I’ll just go find--“

“I know it was me that you saved!” Barry blurted out. 

Well. This was an unexpected turn of events.

“Not _me_ me, but the other me,” Barry chuckled nervously. “Cisco calls him Cinnamon Roll Barry cause he’s so, you know, kind and innocent and like this Disney character--“

“Bambi?” Len interrupted, grinning. Barry huffed, then shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s fair, actually. So, um. You ran back into a building that was collapsing-slash-exploding to save him?”

Len could think of a way to spin this. Of his team members, he _had_ spent the most time working with Barry Allen of Earth-2. And he did genuinely like him. 

“I didn’t rescue your doppelgänger because it was the right thing to do, I did it because I don’t think there’s a universe where I could sit by when any version of you was in real danger.”

If Len had a less stellar grip on his outward appearance he would be dropping his face into his hands and groaning right about now. He certainly ought to _say something_ , but for once he couldn’t bring himself to lie. So instead he just uncrossed then recrossed his arms and waited for Barry to say something. 

Barry opened his mouth, but hesitated. Chewed his lip, then offered, with a shaky smile, “There’s probably at least one Earth where I’m totally evil. Or the same, but with really bad teeth. Or like, very into pop-punk--“

“I know you’re joking,” Len interrupted, “But I saw a lot of possibilities through the Oculus. I stand by what I said.” 

Barry bit his lip again, staring at Len and clearly trying to make up his mind about something. Len prepared himself for disappointment. 

Barry smiled a little and stepped forward, “So this was your plan, then?”

“What?” Len leaned back a bit as Barry entered what he would describe as his personal bubble.

“You know...” Barry trailed off, lifting his hands and resting them on Len’s shoulders. “White Canary ‘not knowing’ who the member of Harry’s team was. Her happening to let it slip that he was a CSI. You coming back ‘to pick up some stuff.’ I kept doubting the signals I thought you were sending, telling myself you flirted like that with everyone.”

“I’m shameless, that’s for sure.” The words were flippant but Len was whispering into the slowly diminishing space between him and Barry, and he knew he probably looked like a deer in the headlights.

Barry pressed their mouths together and Len shuddered and wrapped his arms around Barry’s waist, dragging him closer and pressing forward into the kiss. Their lips moved hungrily, months of slow-burning lust boiling over. Barry groaned and caught Len’s lower lip between his teeth, and Len tightened his grip to lift the younger man slightly so that his weight was resting against Len’s chest and hips.

“Mmpf!” Barry wrapped his arms around Len’s neck and pressed their mouths together so hard Len thought his lip might’ve split on his teeth. He turned his head, angling so that he could slot their open mouths together more gently.

They were like that, tongues rubbing and curling lazily, when Cisco came bounding back in.

“Barry are you still here-- whoah! When did this happen?”

Len and Barry broke their kiss off in surprise, but Barry didn’t pull away. Len tried not to read too much into the fact that the kid wasn’t trying to hide this -- whatever it was -- from his friend. 

“Cisco, hey! And, uh, just now?”

“Nice,” Cisco said, holding out a fist for Barry to bump.

“Thanks, man. You sticking around?” 

Len rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.

“I was gonna pull that data out of the breach tracking program for Caitlin and I to go over tomorrow,” Cisco said.

“Cool. I think we’re going to head out,” Barry replied, drawing back and grabbing Len’s hands so he could pull him up from the console.

“Is this you volunteering to help me schlep my stuff?” Len teased.

“I’m a hero -- I’m always happy to help. But I believe you said something earlier about me taking you to a couch?”

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't really planning on continuing "Nothing Else Can Save Me," but then this idea popped into my head, and it seemed like a nice break from the ColdFlash pwp I've been working on. Let me know what you thought! :D


End file.
